In the field of factory automation (FA), automatic control techniques using visual sensors are used widely. Such techniques include automatic processing in which an image of a target such as a workpiece is captured, the captured image undergoes image measurement such as pattern matching, and various control devices operate based on the measurement results.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-187651 (Patent Literature 1) describes conveyor tracking involving a visual sensor and a robot. A system for such conveyor tracking includes the visual sensor and a robot controller for controlling the robot connected to each other with a network.
Designing or examining the system to be controlled with the above automatic control technique may need preliminary evaluation of the performance of the entire system. In response to this, a technique has been developed for virtually creating a system and simulating its operation. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-191128 (Patent Literature 2) describes a technique for integrated simulations of a mechanical system including a visual sensor in a real space corresponding to a virtual imaging unit. With the technique described in Patent Literature 2, a 3D simulator and a visual sensor simulator cooperate with each other to virtually generate captured images of a workpiece in a 3D space at predetermined timings.